1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus handling a recording medium such as a tape cassette used for, for example, data storage, and particularly to an apparatus handling a recording medium provided with a noncontact type memory in its inside.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a driving apparatus capable of recording/reproducing digital data on a magnetic tape, a so-called tape streaming drive is known. Such a tape streaming drive can have huge recording capacity, depending on a length of a tape cassette as a medium, of, for example, several tens to several hundreds of giga bytes. Thus, the tape streaming drive is widely used for, for example, backup of data recorded in a medium such as a hard disk of a computer main body. Besides, the tape streaming drive is suitable also for the case where it is used for storage of image data, etc. of large data size.
As the foregoing tape streaming drive, there is proposed such a tape streaming drive that a tape cassette of 8 mm VTR is used as a recording medium, and recording/reproduction of data is carried out by adopting a helical scan system with a rotary head.
In such a magnetic tape cassette, since only the tape medium is a medium for recording data, data (various data other than main data of storage object) such as data for control and data for system setting are also recorded on the tape.
However, in actual use, there are many cases where it is desired to read data of a tape cassette in a state where the tape cassette is not loaded.
For example, in a library apparatus (changer apparatus) in which a number of tape cassettes are housed in a magazine form and are selectively supplied to a tape streaming drive, it is preferable that some data can be read out from a cassette outer case for the purpose of identifying a cassette to be conveyed.
For this purpose, it has been considered that for example, a bar code label is attached to a cassette case body, and the library apparatus reads the bar code label by an optical reader or the like, so that information (for example, the number of the cassette) for identification can be recognized.
However, the bar code can not be rewritten and an amount of information is small, so that it is unsuitable for a system executing relatively high level processing.
On the other hand, in the foregoing tape streaming system, a tape cassette in which a non-volatile memory is contained in the cassette has been developed.
This is designed such that management information of data recording/reproduction to a magnetic tape, manufacturing information of the cassette, use history information and the like are recorded in the non-volatile memory. By doing so, as compared with the case where the management information and the like are recorded on the magnetic tape, operation efficiency is extremely improved.
That is, it is demanded that these management information and the like are read and confirmed each time recording/reproduction on the magnetic tape is carried out, or are updated after the recording/reproducing operation. However, in the case where the management information and the like are recorded at a specific position (for example, a tape top) on the magnetic tape, before and after the recording/reproducing operation, the tape must be run to the specific position every time. Besides, by this, the position on the tape where the operation such as tape loading/unloading is carried out is also regulated. On the contrary, if the management information and the like are recorded in the non-volatile memory, these become unnecessary.
With respect to this non-volatile memory, the tape streaming drive is provided with a corresponding connector terminal to carry out access.
In recent years, such a tape cassette is also developed that an antenna and a wireless communication system circuit, together with a non-volatile memory, are disposed in the tape cassette (or attached to a tape cassette case body), and access to the non-volatile memory is carried out in a noncontact state. That is, a wireless communication system circuit is disposed also at the side of the tape streaming drive or library apparatus, so that recording/reproduction of data to the non-volatile memory can be carried out in the state where contact with the tape cassette is not made.
In the case where a tape cassette of such a noncontact type interface system including a non-volatile memory is considered, it is conceivable that read-out of data carried out in the bar code is carried out by using the non-volatile memory.
For example, when the library apparatus selects a specific tape cassette from a magazine housing a number of tape cassettes, intrinsic data of each tape cassette have only to be read through wireless communication.
However, there has been a problem that interference and the like from an adjacently housed tape cassette are apt to occur because of wireless communication.
If, for example, the respective tape cassettes are arranged in a state that they are apart from one another to some degree, the interference can be avoided. However, if such a method is adopted, in the library apparatus housing a number of tape cassettes, a space necessary for a storage portion becomes so wide that the apparatus structure becomes unsuitable. Thus, such a method is not preferable.